A new study by Shawn M. Rolfe, Doctoral candidate at the University of Louisville, helps identify some of the requirements each individual state has when a registered sex offender travels there.

A chart contained in the study provides a useful reference.

WhenaSOComestoVisit-Rolfe

The post When a Sex Offender Comes to Visit appeared first on Florida Action Committee (FAC).

Following the trend of most courts, including the US Supreme Court, a Kentucky Judge struck a law that banned sex offenders from any site that’s “available to minors”, stating the law is too broad and effectively bans most of the internet.

Judge says Internet ban is unconstitutional

The post Kentucky Judge Declares Sex Offender Internet Ban Unconstitutional. appeared first on Florida Action Committee (FAC).

The Michigan Supreme Court is hearing a case today concerning a man who decades ago touched a girls breasts. His probation and community service were completed in 1997 and his case was dismissed. He has no conviction.

Even though his criminal case is sealed and the general public would otherwise have no knowledge of the non-conviction, he remains on the sex offender registry in Michigan.

The state is opposing his suit to get off the registry, claiming the sex offender registry is not punishment. After the 6th Circuit (Michigan’s appellate circuit) and the State of Colorado, found otherwise, it will be interesting to see what the Michigan Supreme Court finds.

Application to Florida Sex Offender Registry

Of interest to us in Florida, the registrant who is the subject of this case is on the Florida Sex Offender Registry (even though he doesn’t live in Florida, he lives in Michigan).

We hope he’s successful in getting removed from the Michigan Registry and then seeks removal from Florida too!

For more information on the case (including links to all pleadings) click here.

To watch the oral arguments, click here.

The post Another Michigan Sex Offender Registry Case appeared first on Florida Action Committee (FAC).

Maybe we should call it a war between sex offender advocates?

Strange lawsuit filed in a local federal court: A Texas-based service that claims to help sexual offenders get off the state registry that limits where they can live and work is suing a Boynton Beach nonprofit that wants to loosen registry rules.

“I haven’t seen the lawsuit yet and I’ve not been served, so I don’t know,” said Gail Colletta, founder of the Florida Action Committee, defendant in the court action filed last week.

Florida Sex Offender Advocate Sued by Texas company

The post Is de-listing sex offenders even possible? Lawsuit claims it is appeared first on Florida Action Committee (FAC).

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Registered sex offenders in the River City may soon be able to live closer to schools, public libraries and other places children frequent if the Jacksonville City Council has anything to say about it.

The city council will undergo a second reading of city ordinance 2017-667 on Tuesday. The bill’s primary function is to reduce the required distance a registered sex offender or predator can reside near various locations from 2,500 feet to 1,500 feet, according to the bill’s description.

The bill also advises, if passed, that new and upcoming day care centers will be required to plan their locations around the 1,500 feet-rule for sex offenders.

The ordinance also expands the bill to includes schools, public libraries, day care centers, parks, playgrounds and other locations that children regularly congregate at, the bill summary said.

The Planning and Development Department will need to produce a neighborhood search map using the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) database of registered sexual predators to determine if such residents exist within 1,500 feet of a proposed day care center.

The current situation with sex offenders makes it “where there are no places for (them) to lawfully reside in Jacksonville.”

The bill continues by saying this “does not protect the community, but rather results in a transient (or homeless) population that poses a significant danger and menace to public health and to children if the predators go unregistered and become less traceable through the FDLE registration process.”

Councilman Bill Gulliford, who is sponsoring the bill, said the current state is penalizing small businesses, such as day care centers, who are unable to find a location to set up care centers due to the current 2,500 feet requirement.

Jacksonville councilman calls for objective look at distance requirements for sex offenders

“I think we need to take a more objective look and more rounded look (at the issue),” the councilman said.

One reason the current requirement has become a struggle for businesses is that it’s unclear how far sex offenders are from proposed day care center sites. Gulliford explains that a day care center may be located within 2,500 feet of a sex offender’s residence if you draw a straight line on a map, but the distance walked or driven between those two locations may be outside the 2,500-feet requirement.

When asked if he was concerned about a potential increase in sexual crimes against children, Gulliford said he does not see that as a foreseeable issue at this time. He said he believes schools, libraries and day cares have stronger forms of security to counteract that concern.

A ChildTime location in Jacksonville would not comment on the pending legislation and calls to their corporate office were not immediately returned.

As for the bill’s progress in the city council, it will go for a second reading on Tuesday. If it moves forward from there, it will go to public hearing, committee, then a final vote in the future, Gulliford said.

If passed, the bill will go into effect Jan. 1, 2018.

SOURCE

The post Sex offenders may soon be able to live closer to schools, day care centers in Jacksonville appeared first on Florida Action Committee (FAC).

This Sunday, at 10PM EST, CNN will air ‘This is Life, with Lisa Ling’

This week’s topic is “Age of Consent” and it talks about the legal and social consequences of convicting adolescents and young adults of sex offenses; when teenage sexuality crosses the line and becomes a crime.

How Sex Offender Laws Impact Teens

The trailer features someone convicted for transmitting images of child pornography… of himself… when he was a minor.

The issue of registering minors as “sex offenders” is one that has been studied extensively and hopefully this TV report will present a true perspective.

The post Lisa Ling to feature “Age of Consent” on CNN’s ‘This is Life’ appeared first on Florida Action Committee (FAC).

An Amended Complaint was filed this week in the Miami-Dade Sex Offender Residency Restriction challenge.

The original action, which was brought in 2014 by the Florida Action Committee and Individuals who were legislated into homelessness by the Miami-Dade Ordinance which prevented registered sex offenders from living within 2500 feet of a school, was dismissed by the trial court. The ACLU appealed the dismissal to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, which reversed!

Now, the Complaint has been amended to conform to the appellate opinion and to add four additional plaintiffs.

A copy of the Amended Complaint Can be found here:

Does v. Miami-Dade – SORR – Amended Complaint

The post Amended Complaint Filed in Miami-Dade SORR Challenge appeared first on Florida Action Committee (FAC).

A man incarcerated at the Wakulla Correctional Institute Annex, a Florida prison, was killed on Monday. He was a sex offender being held in a protective management program at the prison. While very few details are being released concerning his death, the 36 year old man was said to have been killed by another inmate. His father reported that when he last spoke to him on Saturday, he was in good spirits.

The post Registered Sex Offender Killed While in Department of Corrections Custody appeared first on Florida Action Committee (FAC).

The post Must Listen: Michigan’s sex offender registry needs reform, U.S. Supreme Court decides appeared first on Florida Action Committee (FAC).

DETROIT (AP) — Michigan’s sex offender registry law must be rewritten after the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday let stand a decision that found the state was treating people as “moral lepers” by saddling them with excessive restrictions.

The Supreme Court turned down an appeal from the state, 13 months after a federal appeals court struck down many retroactive rules as unconstitutional.

In 2006, Michigan lawmakers changed the law to prohibit registrants from living, working or even loitering within 1,000 feet of a school. Five years later, the Legislature said registrants should be divided into three tiers solely on the type of conviction, not based on any individual assessment. The rules were made retroactive.

The law “resembles, in some respects at least, the ancient punishment of banishment,” appeals court Judge Alice Batchelder wrote for the 3-0 majority.

The court said Michigan presented no evidence that residential restrictions were having positive effects. One plaintiff in the lawsuit is on the registry because of a non-sexual kidnapping.

The court said a requirement that registrants check in frequently in-person with police has “no relationship to public safety at all.”

“The Legislature is going to have to go back and address these issues,” said Miriam Aukerman, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed the lawsuit with University of Michigan law school. “This requires the Legislature to adopt laws that keep us safe and are grounded in research and fact.”

Sen. Rick Jones, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he’ll invite the ACLU, state police and prosecutors to discuss the next steps.

SOURCE

The post Michigan must rewrite sex offender registry law appeared first on Florida Action Committee (FAC).